Duality
by darkestboy
Summary: When Sjari is given a thesis to write on the Doctor, he decides to talk to enemies and companions alike in order to get a better picture of the Time Lord. Spoilers Rose up until and including The Parting Of The Ways.


**Name: **Duality  
**Characters:** 9th Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Sjari, Jackie Tyler, Harriet Jones, Daleks, Slitheen, Adam Mitchell.  
**Synopsis: **When Sjari is given a thesis to write on the Doctor, he decides to talk to enemies and companions alike in order to get a better picture of the Time Lord. Spoilers _Rose_ up until and including _The Parting Of The Ways_.

They say to get a good image on one person you have to look at both sides of the same coin. People are like coins in the sense that there are two sides to them. You have the good and you have the bad — both really go hand in hand. That duality that can make a person both fascinating and frustrating to eternally pin down.

When you are not of the Earth and in a galaxy where your peers can be everything and anything and in all shapes and wonderful sizes, then the coin analogy might not always been applicable. As I'm writing this thesis, I'm sitting beside someone with four faces who wants to ask me out on a date. I can tell, what with being a telepath and all.

I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Sjari Bon Vitale and while I can actually look human enough, despite my burnt yellow skin, I'm actually an alien from a planet called Vespira, and no, I do not bear a relation to the creature otherwise known as a Vespiform, though you are probably not the first person or creature to think of that.

At my own academy, where I am in my third year of interspecies politics, I have been assigned the interesting task of compiling a lengthy dossier on a Time Lord known as the Doctor and then publishing a thesis on the very man.

As an assignment, it was something of a surprise to me. I think I nearly snorted my cup of hot vapours in reaction on my professor. Luckily I didn't scald him but then again, he is literally thick skinned (forty two layers and counting thick skinned) and smiled at me, nearly revelling in my shock. After all, he had originally wanted me to research the Pyroviles but thought it wasn't a challenging enough task for me. I'm sort of clever. Okay, telepathic but believe me, this is one ability that I do not feel burdened by.

I sat there thinking about how I was going to get this research about. The Doctor is infamous. For every civilisation he rescues, there's a guaranteed alien race out of there that have barely made it alive from his help. I thought because of this, it would be something of an interesting idea to actually talk to some of the Doctor's enemies before his allies. Seriously, I think I can leave the sycophantic banter from past and current companions and overly gracious Earthlings (the people he seems to save the most) to a later date.

It was a cold winter morning when I descended on a place called Cardiff in Wales. Using parts of my telepathy, I tried my level best to deflect the colour of my skin as best I could. Of course it wasn't always successful.

"Seriously, mate, you should get that looked at," a young woman about twenty said to me as she pushed her baby in an oversized pram. "It looks like you've been in a nuclear accident."

Times like this, I really should invest in getting a perception filter. Most other aliens attempt to mask their real form when visiting Earth. Then again, they're usually invading or planning to decimate the place and I'm here strictly to talk to one alien in question. Of course, she's a slippery madam. Never really had much time for her race.

Making my way up in a new building, I was very eager to meet this alien posing as the city's mayor. The young man at the desk eyed me in fascination. At first I wondered if he noticed I was a non Terra Firma life form but as I read his mind, he was actually more concerned about his waistline. Damn, humans are so self-conscious. If he ate any less, he wouldn't be visible to the naked eye. I almost felt like feeding him a jarreken boar. Not the time. Maybe another time. I could do with a holiday and this doesn't merit as one.

"Do you have an appointment?" the young man asked me. I could tell he wanted an immediate answer.

"Um, yes, I have an appointment with Miss Margaret, your mayor," I nervously said, well stammered if I'm being really honest. Bloody civil servants.

"Can you take a seat?" the man I realised was known as Idris Hopper said to me. Okay, I read his mind. "She's in a meeting."

Idris, I liked it. Nice name. I noticed that a lot of Welsh people had some peculiar but nice sounding names. After a good twenty minutes and somewhat bored with the poor selection of newspapers and magazines that Idris had given me (I might have projected a thought for him to do that), the young man then told me to go inside. I'm thinking of taking him home as a pet before his boss decides to kill him.

"Mr, I'm sorry I didn't actually catch your name?" Idris said, almost flustered. "If you'd like to step in, Mayor Blaine will now talk to you freely."

"Sjari," I said as I headed inside to meet with the creature that was pretending to be Margaret Blaine. I could tell that she didn't want to deal with me.

"And what can I do for you?" Margaret said, almost pleasantly. She reeked of insincerity and menace. My kind of playmate. "Mr Sjari?"

"For a start, you can drop the pseudo-human mannerisms," I said condescendingly. Stupid I know, but that smile was beginning to bug me. "I smell a Slitheen almost light years away and that's without effort."

"Another life form," Margaret hummed, almost approvingly. "For a minute there, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only alien in Cardiff at present."

"I think you might have an over inflated sense of your own worth there, Margaret or should I say Blon?" Another smile from her. She was intrigued.

"How do you know who I am?" Margaret responded as her eyes noticeably darkened. At this very moment, she was sizing me up to kill. Needed to defect that immediately.

"I know because I need your help," I said, quite conspirator like in tone. "You've encountered a man called the Doctor, yes?"

Immediately after asking the very question, I regretted it instantly. Her eyes went from darkening to her nostrils nearly flaring in anger. It was a red rag to a bull. Still, she couldn't hurt me, no matter how much she was hankering to do so.

"Don't mention that man to me," Margaret hadn't hidden the fact that it was a sore spot topic. "He murdered my family, friends."

"Was this before or after you planned to destroy the Earth with your friends?" I asked her directly.

"Is that relevant?" Margaret asked. For a second, she seemed defensive. Slitheen aren't much loved by other races out there. I even think of them as the runt of the litter. See, even aliens can have their prejudices. I guess that negative trait is something that bonds us to humans.

"From what I've been reading, it does seem that the Doctor only strikes out when seriously provoked," I said, brushing through my notes. Margaret looked impressed and then suspicious. I showed her my student card.

"How do I know it's real?" Margaret eyed me suspiciously, barely suppressing the urge to crush me to please. A psychic attack and she'd be obliterated. I reminded myself of that. I had the advantage here.

"Do I honestly look like someone from the Shadow Proclamation or any other intergalactic confederation?" I smiled at her. "All I'm doing is research. Your plans for world domination, destruction are of no interest to me. Though if you ever try anything like that on my planet, I'll do more than boil you to death."

"That's the kind of thing the Doctor said," Margaret muttered brusquely. "Not exactly in those very words but the effect was there."

"Because he was protecting people?" I wondered aloud. "It's what he does, isn't it?"

"People though," Margaret muttered. "Greedy, stupid humans who'd blow each other to pieces just as much as any of us."

"We're all flawed," I said, taking her words down on my pad, almost tempted to draw doodles. "If the Doctor had aided the Slitheen, your people in your plans, would your viewpoint on him be different?"

"The Doctor, help us?" Margaret seemed shocked at the idea. I think there was a part of her that was reading off my Slitheen prejudices. Being a telepath might give you insight into other people's thoughts but at times, it left me vulnerable to other people reading mine. "You're not even looking at my side of the story."

"I'm trying to write a thesis here on a man who's essentially the last of his kind," I said, keeping my tone neutral as possible. "Much as I'm not a fan of your race, I am trying to be fair. Your hatred for the Doctor stems from the fact that his interference prevented you from causing havoc. However, much as it pains me to admit, I also think he could've done this without your friends/family dying in the process."

For a few seconds neither of us said anything. A part of me wanted to sympathise for the death of her loved ones more directly but I didn't. She'd know only too well that I was being disingenuous and she was also looking at the clock fixatedly before turning to me.

"Time's up," Margaret said in a sinister tone. "If you don't mind, I do have other appointments."

"That's okay, I have another race to talk to as well," I smiled politely, shaking her hand. The human guise worked well for her. She actually felt human, even if the odour of her was anything but. "Thank you, Miss Blaine/Blon."

"For what?" Margaret asked curiously.

"Answering my questions as honestly as you could," I smiled before saying. "But mainly for not killing me. Your kind aren't exactly great for suppressing their bloodlust so I thank you for your surprise restraint. I'll see myself out."

I didn't give her a second to answer. Skipping out the door, I barely acknowledged Idris, who seemed to be drowning in a sea of files and phone calls so I wasn't too surprised that he did not acknowledge me either.

With the Slitheen out of the way, there was only one other alien race I needed to talk to. This was going to be impossible but unlike Margaret, this was a race that usually wouldn't give any other race the courtesy of uttering a word, let alone conducting an actual interview. Yes, folks I am going to talk to a Dalek.

You heard me. A Dalek and no, I most definitely do not have a death wish but wouldn't be weird if I did a thesis on the Doctor and didn't talk to his most famous of enemies? Granted, Daleks aren't famed for their conversational skills but I have ways of getting around such a thing. Telepathy is one thing but sometimes technology is another.

On a spaceship big enough to get noticed but surprisingly well hidden as well, I detected a Dalek. Actually, I detected several of them. Going on this ship to retrieve one would be suicide, which is why I came prepared. They didn't see it coming.

"Intruder on board," shrilled the Dalek Emperor, commanding his subjects to point their guns at me. "Fire at once."

"Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate!" The Daleks shrieked, ready to slaughter me at will.

"Oh, no you don't," I boasted confidently, using a freezing device that froze every single Dalek in place, with the exception of one. The Emperor. It was not impressed. I couldn't have affronted the thing more if I had tried to.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Emperor bellowed. "Who are you?"

"I just want to talk," I tried to smile but the sheer hideousness of the creature encased in the Emperor did not make that task easy. I also had no intention of telling this thing my name. Yes I was scared. Who wouldn't be?

"Talk?" the Emperor said, unconvinced. "This is an attack."

"Defence," I dared to correct the creature. "Hear me out."

"And why I should I listen?" the Emperor asked, its voice hard and enraged. "You have incapacitated my Daleks."

"You and I both know that's a good thing, keeping your pets on ice," I replied coolly. "Unfortunately they will thaw out. If I had the time, I'd make something of an attempt to wipe you all out myself but perhaps the Doctor can do that."

Those magical words. If nothing would make any Dalek or respective Emperor speak, then the mention of the Doctor should.

"The Doctor?" the Emperor's only eye seemed to rise up in morbid interest. It was not a pleasant sight to behold. "An ally of his?"

"No, not as such," I came closer to the creature, looking at a vortex manipulator that I was clutching tightly to in my hand. I didn't have much time. "I want to know why he's your enemy."

"The Doctor has destroyed my Daleks on more than one occasion," the Emperor replied. "He is a murderer. And a coward."

"If I'm not mistaken your Daleks would've wiped out millions without his interventions. They have slaughtered thousands across the cosmos that I know of," I reasoned. "Surely that's less than anything the Doctor has done to your race?"

"And you think the Doctor is better than my Daleks?" the Emperor asked. "The same man who has wiped out many himself? If we are murderers, then so is the Doctor. He is no better than the Dalek race."

I paused. The Emperor had a good point. Was the Doctor no better than the creatures, monsters he went up against? No, he had to be. If he had me under a barrel, he'd show mercy. The Daleks certainly wouldn't and the Emperor himself was biding his time before his creations thawed out from the icy prison I had placed them under. I was minutes away from death, regretting this action I had taken.

"Isn't he?"

"You are wasting my time," the Emperor snarled. "And I've indulged your questions for long enough. It was unwise for you to come aboard my ship."

"Don't worry," I said. "I think I've heard more than enough for the great Emperor. Hiding out in space so the Doctor doesn't see him. I think you might be more of a coward than he is."

"You will pay for that remark with your blood," the Emperor's voice was resolute. I couldn't tell but there was something about the way its eye moved that filled me with a sense of foreboding dread.

"I really hate it when they say that," I groaned in disdain as I heard something starting to move.

As I turned slowly, I could see that one of the Daleks to my right was beginning to thaw faster than I had anticipated. I looked at the freezing device I had used with annoyance. It was time to leave.

The Daleks were all beginning to thaw within sync of each other. Their eyestalks became more animated as they took in my presence on board. They aimed their guns to kill. I was going to be done for if I didn't leave.

"Exterminate him," the Emperor growled commandingly. "He is an ally of the Doctor's. He must be destroyed."

As rays began to shoot from their guns, I slammed on the vortex manipulator so hard, I was lucky it didn't smash in my hands. I was lucky to get out of that ship alive but relieved in the knowledge that as I left, I could hear the agonised cries of the Daleks that had managed to destroy each other in their failed bid to immolate me.

Back in my room on my own planet, I left out a sigh of relief. I had talked to a Slitheen and survived. I had just faced the Dalek Emperor and barely survived. The next subject to talk to my list was thankfully a human being but as my research had revealed, not someone who might have a particular fondness for the Doctor. Still it did mean another Earth visit and I was fine with that. Still, it wouldn't be remiss to bring a weapon in case the young man I was about to talk to all of a sudden got testy.

The human visage was unfortunately needed once again. Worse than that, the fellow in question had been taken into questioning and incarcerated by an organisation called Torchwood in London 2012. I think they were either two or three. I didn't really care for number rankings. I felt more like a cornered mouse visiting this place. The auburn haired woman who was my guide and the head of the place was also very annoying.

"Where did you say your records came from again, Mr Von Bitale?" the woman known as Agnes Friedman had asked me in a tone so condescendingly smug it grated my very skin. Human smugness really is unattractive.

"It's Bon Vitale," I said under clenched teeth. "And as I've told you for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, I'm a UNIT representative. Underground but still prominent during certain circumstances."

"The name is new to me," Agnes said flatly. "Can't blame me for being curious. After all, it would look badly if I didn't ask these kinds of questions. You understand where I'm coming from, don't you? There's a lot of people you can't trust nowadays."

"I imagine my dear that there are a lot of things that are new for you," I threw back at her harshly. "Now, where is Mr Mitchell? I don't have all day."

"I'll take you to him myself," Agnes glared at me, leading me down a corridor. If looks could kill, I probably would be sliced in half with the venomous looks her face was transmitting at this very moment. After about a minute of walking and turning to one corner, I was shown a dark room, guarded by two strapping but brutish looking soldiers. They kept a firm grip on their guns and I could here vague moans in the room they were watching over.

"He's in here," Agnes said, her eyes running up and down trying to figure out anything that was off with me. I wanted to smile as I realised that she was failing to spot anything out of the ordinary. "I'll wait outside. Try not to agitate the prisoner too much."

I was tempted to retort but felt it would've been in poor judgement so I laid off. Inside the room that was now dimly lit, the young man known as Adam Mitchell was strapped to a bed by his waist, arms and feet with a gag in his mouth. His half opened eyes, drowsiness I presumed sized me up. He was immediately suspicious of my presence.

"Interesting predicament here," I said studying the distressed young man. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out that he had been drugged and examined multiple times over.

"Who are you?" Adam muffled through the makeshift gag in his mouth. I tutted before removing the thing, giving him an opportunity to ask the question clearly.

"My name is not important," I said evenly. I wanted to give the young man no indication that I wasn't of the Earth, though I had a feeling he might suspect if I spent too long in his company.

"You're not one of them, are you?" Adam asked curiously, tugging at his restraints but too drowsy to make any real effort. "What do you want?"

"This is terrible treatment for a young man as bright as yourself, Mr Mitchell," I mused looking around the cell, padded in white, dimly lit and reeking of dampness. "Seriously, you really should complain."

"Who'd listen?" Adam muttered bitterly. "I asked you a question."

"Yes you did," I smiled, taking a chair and sitting beside him. "What can you tell me about the Doctor? I know you travelled with him for a while and something tells me that your little pals out there aren't privy to that bit of information."

"He's a deserter," Adam muttered bitterly, his voice hoarse as his eyes darted towards the table. "Could you get me something to drink?"

I eyed him suspiciously before getting up and getting him a glass of water from the pitcher that had been left on the table. Adam shifted a little in his restraints to make himself comfortable enough to take a few sips. When he indicated that his thirst was sated, I left the half glass of water on the floor.

"What do you mean by deserter?" I asked, curious by this bit of insight about the last Time Lord. "You were a companion, were you not? Why would he desert you?"

"I made a mistake," Adam let a sigh. "I wanted to know more about the universe. More than the Doctor could give and he sent me home."

"That doesn't sound so bad," I said. "I mean, it's not like he tried to kill you."

"No," Adam said and this time, there was sadness mixed with anger in his voice. "He didn't kill me. Instead he left me in a vulnerable position and because of that, I now have to spend the rest of my days in Torchwood, who treat me like I'm a freak show. For that, I will always blame the Doctor. I made one mistake and because of him, I now have to pay for it for the rest of my life. What gave him that right to do this to me?"

"You look perfectly human to me," I rationed as I studied his eyebrows. Something was up with his forehead. When I went to touch it, Adam immediately flinched.

"I see," I said as I clicked my fingers and found that a hole now appeared. "Spikes, never a good idea, regardless of your species type. It explains why you're here. Why you hate the Doctor. I've got to go. This has been informative."

"Aren't you going to help me?" Adam sounded desperate. His eyes even tried to appeal to me. Humans.

"Sorry, I feel bad for you, I really do," I got up out of my seat. "But I don't fancy sharing a cell next to you. Goodbye."

"I can tell there's something not right about you either. If you leave me here, I'll tell them you're an -"

I didn't give Adam enough time to speak further. I shoved the gag back in his mouth and let him frantically muffle in anger that I was an alien, even though Agnes, roused by the commotion couldn't make a word of what Adam was trying to say. Luckily for me, Agnes seemed uninterested in listening to the hysterical young man and ordered her standby medic to sedate the lad.

"Interesting young man," I smiled at Agnes. "Apparently he travelled with the Doctor. You caught a really good one there."

"What else did he tell you?" Agnes asked, seemingly unfazed by the Doctor revelation.

"Nothing but I'm advising you Miss Friedman if you don't treat him better," I warned the woman. "My superiors will have this place shut down. He might have a hole in his forehead but he still has rights. It's your kind of attitude that caused problems for Torchwood in the past. Now if you don't mind, I have another appointment to attend."

Agnes got no chance to respond. 2012 was pretty fun but it was time to go a few years earlier. Before I even get close to interviewing Miss Tyler, there were three people pretty close to her that needed talking to first. There was only so much anti-Doctor material I could collect. Now it was time to find out why he was revered by others.

From one politician to another and both female. More importantly, the distinction being that the one I was going to talk to next would hopefully not try to kill me if I dared to ask her an uncomfortable question.

Harriet Jones. Apparently this woman, a PM was representing a progressive side to Great Britain. She had been instrumental in the restoration of Downing Street. She had also fought alongside the Doctor during the Slitheen encounter. Talking to someone in favour of the Doctor would make a change from the previous interviews I've had.

"Miss Jones, I presume," I smiled, teleporting myself into her office. To say I startled her would probably undersell it but she was certainly taken aback by my presence.

"How did you get in here?" Harriet asked, getting up from her seat, unsure of what I was going to do next.

"I'm sorry I startled you," I said in a rushed manner. I immediately shook her hand, trying not to take the wary look she gave me personally. "I want to ask you some question in relation to the Doctor."

"What sort of questions?"

"You assisted him during the invasion of London recently," I said. "When the Slitheen tried to destroy it. I just wanted to know, the Doctor, can he be trusted?"

Harriet paused at the very question. Instead of saying anything, I decided to venture into her mind. I try not to use my telepathy at the best of times but since she was so deep in her thoughts, I thought it would be a good idea.

Inside Harriet's mind, I saw how the debacle with the Slitheen played out better than I would have by taking her words at face value. I saw the Doctor conflicted. I saw him looking at Rose and telling her that he could save the world and lose her. I saw how she told him to carry out his plan regardless. Then Harriet looked at me. It broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," I smiled bashfully. "I don't usually intrude but when you didn't answer, I just had to."

"Did you find what you needed to find?" Harriet asked. "I could feel you, running through my mind."

"Yes, Miss Jones, I did, sorry about the mental hijack, I usually try to avoid that," I said. "Now can you tell me where I can find a Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler?"

Harriet looked at me for a further few seconds. Because her guard was up a little more, I decided not to take another look into her head. Her features began to soften. Maybe she was beginning to realise that I was not a psychotic alien intent on wiping out mankind. It would do her the world of good to realise that not every alien out there wanted Earth's destruction. Again the silence broke.

"Here's their addresses," Harriet said as she began to scribe them down on a piece of paper. "I warn you, if you -"

"— No harm will come to either one of them," I said as reassuring as I could. "All I want to do is find out more about the Doctor. Not all life on other worlds have the desire to end life on this one."

Harriet looked at me for a few more seconds. Before she could respond, I teleported myself away as best I could. It was somewhat nice to see that she trusted me a little more than she did when I first showed up.

With Harriet, I had received a few awkward silences but while the interview was largely brief, it had fared better than my next one. Clearly the element of surprise wasn't for everyone and the young man I visited certainly was a jumpy individual.

"Who the hell are you?" Mickey Smith had yelped at me as he went to grab the first thing within his grasp. Unlucky for me, it was lamp which Mickey clung to as a means of protecting himself.

"Uh, I mean you no harm," I said, awkwardly. I wasn't doing a good job of convincing him. "I just want to ask you a few questions about the Doctor and Miss Tyler. I believe she's your former girlfriend."

Before Mickey consider actually telling me anything, my communications device began beeping, emitting blue lights. Unfortunately the blue light can have an adverse effect on different species, making some of them paranoid and aggressive. Sadly for me, Mickey was one of those to be affected.

"You're lying," Mickey said as he swung the lamp in my direction. I managed to dodge the wretched thing as he swung again, equally as furious as the first time. "You're out to hurt them. Well, I won't let you."

"Mickey, seriously I'm not," I said, dodging another blow. Luckily for me, even in feral mode, Mickey wasn't good with his aim. "I just want to ask a few questions."

"Liar," Mickey yelled, now beginning to generate some attention from next door, who banged on the young man's wall to keep the noise down.

Unfortunately this was also the moment in which Mickey dropped the lamp and went for the strangle approach. I had no choice but knock him out.

When he came to, Mickey was not pleased to be put in a virtual prison. Beside him, Jackie was there too. Both of them were not impressed with me. I didn't need telepathy for that.

"For an alien who doesn't want to harm anyone, you're not doing a very good job convincing us," Jackie said with a level of icy sarcasm.

"To be fair, one of you tried to strangle me and the other one smacked me across the back of the head," I said, nursing the pain of Jackie's powerful thud to my head. "No wonder other races think you're monsters. You lot do have a knack for violence."

"Let us out of here," Mickey said, slamming against the beam that rendered him and Jackie in a limited space.

"Answer my questions and I'll let you both go," I said, folding my arms. The last thing I wanted to risk was being smacked by both of them again. "Do we have a deal?"

Both Mickey and Jackie looked at each other and then turned to me grudgingly. Neither of them were pleased to utter one simple word.

"Deal," both said in unison.

"Good," I smiled, making an attempt to soften the mood. "So, what can you tell me of the Doctor?"

"He's mad," Mickey said. "But I'd trust him more than you."

"He saves the world," Jackie said, more generously.

"And how do you both feel about him travelling with Rose?" I asked both of them. "Be honest."

"What do you want us to say?" Mickey asked. "It's not like she's travelling with him under duress."

"So he's a good influence?" I asked. "Keeps her safe?"

"And the rest," Jackie chimed in. "It's like Mickey said, he's mad. There have been times when I've wondered if Rose would ever walk through that door but the way she looks at me, the things they've seen. I don't think she could stop even if she wanted to."

"Thank you," I said, absorbing the words in. Within seconds, I undid the prison they were in and moved a few feet away from them. "Only two more people to talk to then."

I didn't hear a word of what Mickey and Jackie were trying to say as I left the scene. In the space of a few hours, I've broken into government facilities, been on the vessel of the most dangerous race in existence and nearly got strangled on a council estate. Surely, meeting the Doctor and Rose was going to be a walk in the park after all that?

More like a thunderbolt to the scalp. Stowing onto vessels isn't the wisest of things I realise that but clearly this one doesn't like me at all. I felt like my skull was about to rip apart upon landing on the bloody floor of the Doctor's ship, which was as hard as hell. I take it that the Doctor and his companions got a fair bruising upon tripping up in this place.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked me, no introductions. Rose and Jack looked similarly suspicious as well. "How did you get into my TARDIS?"

"Is that what it's called?" I asked, getting up rather huffily. I'm not good when falling. "Don't all rush at once to help me. Manners."

"You're not a guest," Rose pointed out, arms folded.

"Okay, I'm a gatecrasher then," I retorted, putting my hands up in mock surrender. "You've got me."

"What do you want?" Jack asked, all of a sudden. He seemed a little less suspicious than Rose or the Doctor. I had a feeling that he was familiar with my race. I was also hoping that his familiarity boded well for me.

"I was getting there," the Doctor said, mock affronted. "As the Captain asked, what do you want?"

"He's a Captain?" I don't know why but I sounded impressed as I gave Jack the old once over. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"No flirting," the Doctor tutted all of a sudden. "You still haven't explained why you're here or how you've come to be in the TARDIS. No-one can usually get through those doors without my say so."

"I guess I'm the exception to the rule then," I smiled. "Listen, Doctor, I just want about 20 minutes of your time. Ten for Rose and Jack and ten for you."

"What for?" Rose asked. "Is that how long it takes for you to kill -,"

" — Have you ever heard of an executioner asking to dismember you?" I cut her off. For a companion of the Doctor, she did come to the strangest of conclusions. "I just want to talk to you."

"About what?" the Doctor, his curiosity beginning to get the better of them. Future bad guys could learn something here.

"Funnily enough, Doctor — you," I smiled, before getting him to shake my hand along with Jack and Rose. "So, if you could leave the room for ten minutes, I'll talk to your companions and then you."

The Doctor stared at me. Now, curiosity took the better of me and I ventured into that headspace of his. Never had I read such a mind. Of course, the way he was looking at me, not only was he aware of what I was doing but his mental strength also ensured that I didn't venture into private territory. I couldn't hold that against him.

"Fair enough," the Doctor softened, even smiling a little. "Ten minutes. Any sign of trouble and I'll …"

"Take care of it," Jack smiled, holding onto a squareness gun, hoping that I was unaware of it's actual use. The Doctor gave Jack a slight disapproving look but took his leave.

Jack and Rose both looked at me. They were still unsure of my motives and from the way they leaned against the console, I guessed that they were being extra protective of any aspirations of backseat driving on my part.

"So," I smiled at both of them, trying to break the tension in the room. "Which one of you wants to go first? Who was here first so to speak?"

Both of them gave me a blank look. You'd swear that I had asked them their deepest, darkest of thoughts.

"Awkward silences, huh? What is it about the Doctor that makes others reluctant to open up about him?" I wondered aloud before adding. "You can trust me."

"You're hardly going to say the opposite, are you?" Rose pointed out. "What do you want to know?"

"The basics will do, Miss Tyler. How long have you travelled with him, when did you first meet him, are there downsides to being his companion and how has he changed your life?" I said, keeping my tone clear and friendly. "Are you better now than you were when you were a shop girl? I've spoken to your mum and your ex. Both were pretty informative when pressed."

"What does that mean?" Rose said, her voice less friendly than before. Clearly I should've worded the last two sentences much better.

"They're safe. I didn't kill them or hurt them," I smiled as I felt the back of my head. "If anything I was the injured party. Mr Smith went at me with a lamp and your mother certainly knows to smack hard, I'll give you that."

Both Rose and Jack laughed at this. I was getting the impression that my suffering for my research was oddly an incentive for them to trust me. After all, if I couldn't take on two ordinary humans, I mustn't be that much of a threat to them. Suddenly the laughing stopped and both of them got serious again.

"What did they say?" Rose asked as she turned to me. She stepped a little closer and her body language was reading as less hostile.

"They said he was mad," I told her. "Though I don't think it was meant in a derogatory way. The things that you've seen with him, both of them commented that it changed you. Is that true?"

"A little," Rose said. "Though I would say that it was for the better. The Doctor's shown me the universe. Planets, civilisations, times, everything. As for meeting him, there was an incident with a race called the Autons -"

"- I know who they are," I cut her off. I wasn't trying to be rude but I didn't want a rundown of the specifics of the monsters. My history on creatures like the Autons was adequate.

"Anyways, I helped the Doctor stop them from destroying London," Rose continued "and I've been with him ever since. I miss my mum and Mickey but you just don't want to stop … travelling with him. It's like nothing else. It's dangerous but there's nowhere else you'd want to be. And he's changed my life for the better."

She stopped after that. I gathered from the depth of emotion in her voice that pressing her for more wasn't necessary. Cheating again, I took another look into her headspace. I saw things such as the Earth burning billions of years in the future, the gaseous Gelth creatures, Slitheen, a Dalek sacrificing itself and recently, a London Blitz with nanogenes running rampant through the time. All I saw and heard from Miss Tyler was enough. Jack was staring at me, clearly aware of what I had been doing. He wasn't too pleased about it.

"And you?" I turned my attention to him. "A handsome stranger, appearing out of nowhere. A con man in fact. You tried to con the Doctor and Miss Tyler, did you not?"

"People can change," Jack said firmly.

"I don't judge you, Mr Harkness," I assured him. "I also don't really care. Your past is your past. None of my concern. But the Doctor. I sense tension between you two. A little rivalry perhaps."

"Boys being boys," Rose added. I noticed the way she looked at Jack. It was protective. She really cares for him. Almost as much as she does for the Doctor.

"That being said, there is a little tension, yes?" I asked. I just wanted him to admit something that I sensed with the three of them. "The Doctor values his companions but his relationships with you and Miss Tyler are -"

"- Equal," a voice interrupted from behind. He had returned. "Ten minutes are up."

"So they are," I smiled at the Doctor, taking in his features. That man was certainly going to be a tough one to talk to. I then looked at Rose and Jack. "Thank you."

Neither said anything but both of them got behind the Doctor as he came closer to me. Now we were facing each other. His arms were folded before he put them behind his back. For a minute, I thought he was going to circle around me but a sharp intake of breath later, he just looked at me. And then he said it.

"Ask me."

He voice had total certainty in it. All the questions I had been asking were nothing compared to what he was daring me to ask. I braved it, knowing it could be the worst thing I did.

"Did you kill them?" I asked, my voice calm, despite nerves seeping through it from time to time. "Your people. Are they dead because of you because for a man that's supposed to be so good, I can't imagine you'd be capable of something so monstrous, so did you?"

"It's not that simple," the Doctor said. His voice was so calm. I couldn't tell if he was offended but my question didn't surprise him.

"Tell me," I looked at him harder. "Tell me and I'll know if you're telling me the truth. My quest here is meaningless. I'm just doing research for academia. No big plot to destroy the universe. Whatever you tell me isn't going to have any consequences for you or anyone on this ship. Myself included."

"There was a war," the Doctor started off. "A great war. The Time War. Both my people and the Daleks fought against one another. There were casualties on both sides. My people died. Except me."

For a second, there was silence. I looked into his head and honestly, I wished I hadn't. It was like he had said, only much worse. I could feel the devastation, the blood curling screams, the anger, vengeance and grief of the last Time Lord. I thought my head was going to explode. I began to lose my footing. The Doctor stopped me from falling.

"Are you?" the Doctor didn't need to finish that sentence. Like everyone else I read, he knew what I had done. He knew what I had seen. I had to get out of here.

"I have to go," I said, brushing the Doctor off me and grabbing my teleportation device. "I believe you, Doctor. Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?" he asked as I began to fade.

"They're coming," I said. I could see his dumfounded look, the same one that both Rose and Jack had on them when I left. I know I should've specified exactly who was coming but seeing as the Doctor had survived them before, I had a feeling he would do so again.

I should've been satisfied with the research that I had done for this project. It had gotten the direct result I'd wanted, acclaim from my academia peers but even when writing the thing, I couldn't help but wonder if I actually really knew the Doctor. He was great and changed some people's lives for the better like Rose and Jack but then I look at Adam, the Slitheen and even the Daleks and I still realise that he had his shortcomings. Still, the universe is certainly a more interesting place with him in it.

- The End -


End file.
